Dr. Gerard M. Verschuuren - God and Evolution?: Science Meets Faith

Scientific knowledge on the cosmic and on the biological evolution has become highly strengthened in recent decades. Evolutionary progress results from quite slow dynamic processes that reveal natural laws for permanent creation. Verschuurens book can be expected to foster a harmonious integration of scientific facts together with religious beliefs into our orientational knowledge.

Professor Werner Arber, Nobel Laureate in Medicine 1978,
President of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences

Gerard M. Verschuuren has done us all a favor by giving us a clear, faithful, and lucid survey of the Catholic position on evolution, avoiding all foolish extremes, and showing that real science and real Catholic faith not only have nothing to fear from each other, but are vital to illuminating one another.

Mark P. Shea, apologetics speaker, senior content writer for
www.catholicexchange.com, author of Connecting the Dots column
in the National Catholic Register

This is a well-written work that discusses the position of the Catholic Church with regard to the theory of evolution. The scientific explanations are exceptionally clear. Dr. Verschuuren makes fine use of modern sources and has produced a book that is to be praised and extensively read.

The Most Rev. John B. McCormack,
Bishop Emeritus, Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire

God and Evolution is a thoughtful, well-argued, and easy to read presentation of the conversation between science and faith. As Gerard Verschuuren argues, science and religion, or evolution and creation, are two windows that see the world from different perspectives which are not contradictory but complementary. Dr. Verschuuren documents the religious perspective with pertinent citations from Scripture, theologians, and philosophers. As an expert biologist, he convincingly makes the case for science.

Francisco J. Ayala, Donald Bren Professor of Biological Sciences, University
of California, Irvine, California; recipient of the 2010 Templeton Prize; Past
President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

... a solid guide for those who could be confused by the hastily written presentations in the media about the complex question of evolution versus creation.

Rev. Marcel Chappin, SJ, professor of theology,
Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome

Whether the reader agrees or disagrees with the controversial thesis of this book, it is clearly and strongly argued and it is a delightful and enlightening read. I like the book very much.

Peter Kreeft, professor of philosophy,
Boston College, Massachusetts

An enlightening and delightful tour through the issues of faith and science that continue to swirl around Darwins great idea. Verschuurens ease with science, philosophy, and theology will surely help to defuse the tiresome rhetoric of God versus science that is so common today.

Kenneth R. Miller, professor of biology, Brown University, Rhode Island;
2008 recipient American Association for the Advancement
of Science Award for Public Understanding of Science and Technology

SCIENCE MEETS FAITH

Dr. Gerard M. Verschuuren

With a Foreword by Carlos A. Sevilla, SJ

Nihil Obstat: Most Reverend John B. McCormack, Bishop Emeritus
Diocese of Manchester
April 11, 2012

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Verschuuren, G. M. N. (Geert M. N.)

God and evolution? : science meets faith / Gerard M. Verschuuren ; with a foreword by

Carlos A. Sevilla.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8198-3113-2
ISBN-10: 0-8198-3113-1
1. Evolution (Biology)--Religious aspects--Christianity. I. Title.
BX1795.E85V47 2012

231.7652--dc23

The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright 1989, 1993, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Excerpts from the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for use in the United States of America, copyright 1994, United States Catholic Conference, Inc.Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used with permission.

Cover design by Rosana Usselmann

Cover photo: istockphoto.com / Johan Swanepoel

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

P and PAULINE are registered trademarks of the Daughters of St. Paul.

Copyright 2012, Gerard M. Verschuuren

Published by Pauline Books & Media, 50 Saint Pauls Avenue, Boston, MA 02130-3491

Printed in the U.S.A.

www.pauline.org

Pauline Books & Media is the publishing house of the Daughters of St. Paul, an international congregation of women religious serving the Church with the communications media.

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Dedicated to
Pope Benedict XVI,
the tireless defender of faith and reason,
and to all Catholics in search of the truth

I wish to express special gratitude to the Most Rev. Carlos Sevilla, SJ, of the Diocese of Yakima; Francisco J. Ayala of the University of California at Irvine; Rev. Marcel Chappin of the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome; John Jones of The Crossroad Publishing Company; Kenneth W. Kemp of the University of Saint Thomas; Peter Kreeft of Boston College; James McGhee of Saint Anselms College; and Kenneth R. Miller of Brown University for helping me to improve the text of this book by their input, comments, and suggestions. They and many others make me realize that originality only consists in the capacity of forgetting about your sources.

Saint Paul was right on target in saying, When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways (1 Cor 13:11). Its obvious that the challenges that led Saint Paul to make his statement were very different from those we as Catholics encounter today. Nonetheless, it remains true that our life of faith needs to be deepened and nourished as we grow older and mature.

For example, one of the more important challenges faced by many Catholic believers today is the seemingly opposite, if not apparently contradictory, approaches taken to evolution by our modern science-driven world and to what can be authentically and correctly presented to us as Catholic teaching about evolution.

This book by Dr. Verschuuren, an old friend of mine, will be a great resource and, I believe, a positive help to integrate a solid, scientific understanding of evolution with the most current teaching about evolution from the faith perspectives of our popes, especially John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

Dr. Verschuuren, an accomplished and respected scientist with expertise in many areas, is dedicated to the Church, its traditions, and its teachings. Although I cannot evaluate the full extent of the scientific data in Dr. Verschuurens bookscientists have done thatI can assure its readers that the author has a very sound Catholic approach to God, creation, and evolution. The many well-chosen citations from Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI are, it seems to me, all the proof a reader should need of that fact.